On May 24, 2023 at 12:56 UTC the “Progress MS-23” unmanned supply spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was orbited by the “Soyuz-2.1a” rocket-carrier.

On May 22, 2023 at 13:12 UTC the US Crew Dragon “Freedom” (Axiom-2 mission) spacecraft docked with a docking adapter on the “Harmony” module of the International Space Station. The spacecraft delivered US astronaut Peggy Whitson; US commercial astronaut John Shoffner; Saudi Arabian astronaut Ali AlQarni (علي القرني); Saudi Arabian woman-astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi (ريانة برناوي) to the ISS. The new comers were welcomed by the current ISS Expedition 69 members – Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin, Francisco Rubio, Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg, Sultan Al Neyadi (النيادي سلطان سيف مفتاح حمد), Andrey Fedyaev.

On May 21, 2023 at 21:37 UTC the American SpaceX’s Crew Dragon “Freedom” (Axiom-2 mission) spacecraft was launched from Kennedy Space Center (LC39A), Florida, USA. The space vehicle was orbited by the “Falcon-9FT” rocket-carrier.

There were 4 crew members onboard the Crew Dragon – Commander, Peggy Whitson, a US citizen and retired NASA astronaut; pilot, a US citizen and commercial astronaut John Shoffner; Mission Specialist 1, Saudi Arabian astronaut Ali AlQarni (علي القرني); Mission Specialist 2, Saudi Arabian woman-astronaut Rayyan ... Read more »

On May 12, 2023, Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin performed the extra vehicle activities (EVA – spacewalk) to deploy a radiator on the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module and attach mechanical, electrical and hydraulic connections. The EVA lasted 5 hours and 14 minutes. It was the 6^th EVA for Sergey Prokopyev and the 4^th EVA for Dmitry Petelin. It was the 169^th EVA performed by Soviet/Russian cosmonauts since 1965.

On May 10, 2023 at 21:16 UTC the Chinese “Tianzhou-6” unmanned supply spacecraft docked to the “Tianhe” core module of the Chinese “Tiangong” Space Station. Tianzhou means “heavenly vessel” in Chinese.

On May 10, 2023 at 13:22 UTC, the Chang Zheng-7 (Long March-7) rocket-carrier was launched from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center (WSLC), located in Wenchang on Hainan Island off China’s southern coastline. The rocket orbited the “Tianzhou-6” [天舟六号] unmanned supply spacecraft. The spacecraft is to dock with the Chinese space station.

On May 6, 2023 the Crew Dragon “Endeavour” (Crew-6 mission) spacecraft was redocked from the zenith docking port of the “Harmony” module to the forward docking port of the “Harmony” of the International Space Station. During the redocking (11:23 – 12:01 UTC) the crew consisted of US astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, UAE’s astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi (النيادي سلطان سيف مفتاح حمد) and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. The crew relocated the Crew Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft to clear the way for arrival of Dragon CRS-28 unmanned supply spacecraft.

On May 05, 2023 at 07:25 UTC the Chinese “Tianzhou-5” unmanned supply spacecraft was undocked from the Chinese “Tianhe” core module (Chinese Tiangong Space Station). It was switched to independent flight mode.

On May 5, 2023 American astronaut Samuel Thornton Durrance passed away. He was 79. He performed 2 space flights: Columbia STS-35 and Endeavour STS-67.

On May 3-4, 2023, Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin performed the extra vehicle activities (EVA – spacewalk) to relocate experiment airlock from the “Rassvet” module to the “Nauka” module. The EVA lasted 7 hours and 10 minutes. It was the 5^th EVA for Sergey Prokopyev and the 3^rd EVA for Dmitry Petelin.

On April 28, 2023, US astronaut Stephen Bowen and UAE’s astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi performed the spacewalk to lay cables for the 1A and 1B power channel iROSA upgrades. The astronauts were unable to free up an electronics box located on the truss associated with a degraded S-band communications antenna. The antenna removal was deferred to a future spacewalk ahead of its planned return to Earth. The EVA lasted 7 hours and 1 minute. It was the 8^th EVA for Stephen Bowen and the 1^st spacewalk for Sultan Al Neyadi.

On April 22, 2023 at 03:12 UTC, the US "Cygnus” CRS-18 (NG-18, the S. S. Sally Ride) unmanned supply spacecraft was deorbited.

On April 21, 2023 at 08:37 UTC, the US "Cygnus” CRS-18 (NG-18, the S. S. Sally Ride) unmanned supply spacecraft was undocked from the International Space Station. After that, the spacecraft, was released by using the “Canadarm-2” orbiting complex's huge robotic arm at 11:22 UTC. It was the 18^th successful flight of "Cygnus” to the ISS.

On April 19, 2023, Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin performed the extra vehicle activities (EVA – spacewalk) to move a radiator from the “Rassvet” module and attach it to the “Nauka” Multipurpose Laboratory Module. The EVA lasted 7 hours and 55 minutes. It was the 4^th EVA for Sergey Prokopyev and the 2^nd EVA for Dmitry Petelin.

On April 15, 2023 Chinese cosmonauts Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu performed the spacewalk to install the second additional pump block of the thermal control system and to attach the second external platform to the “Mengtian” module of the “Tiangong” Station. The EVA lasted about 7 hours and 30 minutes. It was the 4^th EVA for both Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu. It was the 12^th EVA of Chinese space program.

On April 15, 2023 at 20:58 UTC the "Dragon” capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico not far from Florida, USA. It was the "SpaceX CRS-27” mission. CRS means Commercial Resupply Services. It was the 7^th flight of the new generation of Dragon cargo capsules also known SpaceX Dragon 2 or Cargo Dragon 2. It was the 27^th flight of Cargo Dragon to the ISS with docking, including a demonstration flight in 2012.

On April 15, 2023 at 15:05 UTC, the Dragon CRS-27 spacecraft was undocked from the International Space Station. It’s the 7^th flight of the new generation of Dragon cargo capsules also known SpaceX Dragon 2 or Cargo Dragon 2. It was the 27^th flight of Cargo Dragon to the ISS with docking, including a demonstration flight in 2012.

On April 6, 2023 the Russian "Soyuz MS-23” spacecraft was redocked from the “Poisk” module (MIM-2 or Mini-Research Module 1 /MRM-1/) to the “Prichal” module (Nodal Module Berth or Uzlovoy Module or UM) of the International Space Station. The operation was carried out manually by Soyuz commander, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev. During the redocking the crew also consisted of Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Petelin and US astronaut Francisco Rubio. The redocking mission lasted 37 minutes. The relocation was performed to ensure the safety of spacewalks under the Russian program from the “Poisk” module, which were expected in the spring - summer of 2023.

On March 30, 2023 Chinese cosmonauts Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu performed the spacewalk to connect inter-module cables. To do this, the cosmonauts had to establish more than 40 connections between the “Wentian” and “Mengtian” modules. The EVA lasted about 7 hours and 30 minutes. It was the 3^rd EVA for both Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu. It was the 11th EVA of Chinese space program.

On March 28, 2023 at 11:45 UTC the Russian “Soyuz MS-22” uncrewed landing capsule landed safely in Kazakhstan, 147 km at the southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan. A Russian Soyuz spacecraft originally slated to bring home two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut returned to Earth without a crew due to concerns about overheating following a coolant leak while docked at the International Space Station last year. The spacecraft instead brought home 218 kilograms of cargo, including scientific specimens and hardware for analysis, refurbishment, and reuse.

On March 28, 2023 at 09:57 UTC, the Russian “Soyuz MS-22” uncrewed spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station.

With undocking of unmanned Soyuz MS-22 on March 28, 2023 the ISS Expedition 68 concluded and the new Expedition 69 began.

French astronaut Jean-Jacques Henri Favier passed away on March 19, 2023. He performed 1 space flights by Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-78) in July 1996. He was 73 years old.

On March 16, 2023 at 11:31 UTC, the private U.S. unmanned supply spacecraft, the "Dragon” SpX-27 (CRS-27 flight), was successfully docked to the International Space Station (Harmony forward docking port). It was the new generation of Dragon cargo spacecraft also known SpaceX Dragon 2 or Cargo Dragon 2. It was the 7^th SpaceX cargo vehicle that automatically docked to the space station without being captured by the Canadarm. This docking marked the 27^th time a Dragon cargo spaceship has reached the space station, counting a demonstration flight in 2012.

On March 15, 2023 at 00:30 UTC the "Falcon 9” rocket-carrier was launched from LC-39A of the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA. The launch was performed by the "SpaceX” private company supported by the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. US private company SpaceX launched its "Dragon” (CRS-27 flight also known as SpX-27) unmanned spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. CRS means Commercial Resupply Services. It is the 28^th successful flight of a “Dragon” spacecraft and the 27^th successful flight of a “Dragon” cargo spacecraft to the ISS. It was the 7^th flight for SpaceX under NASA's CRS Phase 2 contract awarded in January 2016. It was the 7^th launch of the new generation of Dragon cargo capsules also known SpaceX Dragon 2 or ... Read more »

On March 12, 2023 at 02:02 UTC the US Crew Dragon “Endurance” (Crew-5 mission) spacecraft splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida.

The spacecraft delivered from the ISS to Earth 4 members of Expedition 68: US astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada; Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina. They spent in space 157 days, 10 hours and 01 minute.

7 other ISS crew members – Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin and Andrey Fedyaev; US astronauts Francisco Rubio, Stephen Bowen an ... Read more »

On March 11, 2023 at 07:20 UTC the US Crew Dragon “Endurance” (Crew-5 mission) spacecraft undocked from the forward docking port of the Harmony module of the International Space Station to deliver to Earth 4 members of Expedition 68: US astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada; Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina.

On February 28, 2023 Chinese cosmonauts Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu performed the spacewalk to install an instrument with 20 plugs. Fei Junlong had to connect almost 40 data lines to the Tianhe module. This required removing a protective cap from each socket and then inserting a rectangular plug with almost 50 contacts into the respective socket. The EVA lasted 7 hours and 50 minutes. It was the 2^nd spacewalk for both Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu. It was a secret spacewalk. It was the 10^th EVA of Chinese space program.

On March 3, 2023 at 06:40 UTC the US Crew Dragon “Endeavour” (Crew-6 mission) spacecraft docked with the zenith docking port of the “Harmony” module of the International Space Station. The mission also known as USCV-6 (US Crew Vehicle 6). The spacecraft delivered US astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, UAE’s astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi (النيادي سلطان سيف مفتاح حمد) and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev to the ISS.

The new comers joined ... Read more »

On March 2, 2023 at 05:34 UTC the American SpaceX’s Crew Dragon “Endeavour” (Crew-6 mission) spacecraft was launched from Kennedy Space Center (LC39A), Florida, USA. The mission also known as USCV-6 (US Crew Vehicle 6). The space vehicle was orbited by the “Falcon-9FT” rocket-carrier.

The spacecraft is piloted by 4 astronauts – spacecraft commander American astronaut Stephen Bowen; pilot, American astronaut Warren Hoburg; mission specialist ... Read more »

On February 26, 2023 at 00:58 UTC the Russian "Soyuz MS-23” uncrewed spacecraft docked with the Russian “Poisk” module of the International Space Station.

The human-rated crew spaceship flew to the station without anyone on-board, an unusual step for Russia’s space program, to replace a damaged Soyuz (“Soyuz MS-22”) spacecraft that was supposed to bring home Russian commander Sergey Prokopyev, cosmonaut Dmitri Petelin, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio next month. But the Soyuz (“Soyuz MS-22”) that launched Prokopyev’s crew in September 2022 sprung a coolant leak on December 14, 2022 spewing frozen flakes of fluid from its radiator into space after what ... Read more »

On February 24, 2023 at 00:24 UTC the Russian “Soyuz MS-23” uncrewed spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The space vehicle was orbited by the Russian “Soyuz-2.1a” rocket-carrier.

The launch was performed from Launch Site 31 (Baykonur Cosmodrome Site 31). The “Soyuz MS-23” space vehicle is to dock with the International Space Station on February 26 to replace a damaged Soyuz (“Soyuz MS-22”) and provide an eventual ride home for three of the ISS’s crew members.

... Read more »

On February 19, 2023 at 06:15 Moscow time, the “Progress MS-21” unmanned supply spacecraft was deorbited. Non-burnt fragments of the spacecraft drowned in the remote area of the Pacific at 06:57 Moscow time.

On February 18, 2023 at 05:26 Moscow time the Russian “Progress MS-21” unmanned supply spacecraft was undocked from the “Poisk” module of the International Space Station, keeping a departure date that has been set for months. But the routine undocking took special significance after the “Progress MS-21” cargo ship suddenly leaked coolant on February 11, soon after the docking of a fresh Progress (“Progress MS-22”) resupply spacecraft to a different port on the space station.

On February 11, 2023 at 11:45 Moscow time, the Russian “Progress MS-22” unmanned supply spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was docked to the Russian “Zvezda” module. The spacecraft delivered about 2500 kilograms of cargo for the ISS crew.